Quantized indication apparatus

ABSTRACT

Apparatus provides a quantized indication of a variable parameter that varies in relation to a variable signal advantageously provided by a photosensitive device in a camera. Preferably, exposure time is the indicated parameter, exposure time being of course a function of object brightness. The apparatus comprises a logarithmic compression circuit, a plurality of logarithmic expansion circuits each responsive to the logarithmic compression circuit, and indicating means including a plurality of switching elements each having a different threshold of switching. Preferably, the switching elements control lamps that are selectively lit to indicate which of a plurality of ranges encompasses the exposure time.

United States Paten Mori QUANTIZED INDICATION APPARATUS Chiharu Mori, Tokyo, Japan Asahi Kogaku Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha, Tokyo, Japan Filed: Sept. 10, 1973 Appl. No. 395,660

Related U.S. Application Data Continuation-in-part of Ser. No. 286,988, Sept. 7, 1972, Pat. No. 3,828,253.

Inventor:

Assignee:

Foreign Application Priority Data Sept. 11, 1972 Japan 47-91030 U.S. Cl. 356/226; 356/223; 356/227; 354/24 Int. Cl. G0lj 1/44 Field Of Search 356/223, 226, 227; 250/214; 354/24 References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS I 3/1973 Nanba 356/226 3,737,240 6/1973 Wagner 356/226 Primary Examiner-Ronald L. Wibert Assistant Examiner-Conrad Clark Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Christie, Parker & Hale [57] ABSTRACT Apparatus provides-a quantized indication of a variable parameter that varies in relation to a variable signal advantageously provided by a photosensitive device in a camera. Preferably, exposure time is the indicated parameter, exposure time being of course a function of object brightness. The apparatus comprises a logarithmic compression circuit, a plurality of logarithmic expansion circuits each responsive to the logarithmic compression circuit, and indicating means including a plurality of switching elements each having a different threshold of switching. Preferably, the switching elements control lamps that are selectively lit to indicate which of a plurality of ranges encompasses the exposure time.

10 Claims, 1 Drawing Figure 1 QUANTIZED INDICATION APPARATUS CROSS REFERENCETO RELATED QAPPLICI'ATIONS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In general, this invention relates to quantized indication apparatus. A preferred embodiment relates in particular to quantized indication of photographic exposure parameters for use in cameras.

Conventionally, light measurement values and exposure time values have been indicated by means of ammeters. An ammeter provides an analog or continuously varying indication. This approach has a number of disadvantages. Among these are mechanical problems and, importantly, the difficulty incident to attempting to read the ammeter scale in a dark place.

In order to overcome these difficulties there have been proposed various quantized indication systems. In a conventional system of this type, the input signals are transformed into a'pulse number which is counted by multiple stagepulse counters, and the counted numbers memorized and indicated. The disadvantage of this method is that when the input signal is continuously changing, it is necessary to reset and then again to make pulse number transformation of the input signal and count the pulse number. As a result, it is difficult to make a satisfactory continuous indication.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The apparatus of this invention provides a quantized indication of a variable parameter that varies in relation to a variable signal. 1 I

Advantageously, the variable signal-is provided by a photosensitive device in a camera having a built-in exposure meter. The apparatus comprises a logai'ithmic compression circuit including a controllable :voltage source that provides a first voltage that varies logarithmic relationship with respect to variations in the signal. Advantageously, the first voltage has a value proportional to a selected one of the APEX- represented photographic parameters; A plurality of logarithmic expansion circuits each include a voltagecontrolled current source controlled by the first voltage. Each expansion circuit has an inverse-logarithmic voltage-in to current-out characteristic. Indicating means include a plurality of threshold-detecting switching elements. Each switchingelement is operative to switch between opposite switching conditions in accordance with the value of the current out of a respective one of the connector circuits. Preferably, the switching elements control lamps that are, selectively lit to indicate which ofa plurality of ranges encompasses an'optimum exposure tir'n.-

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURE 1 is aschematic and block diagram showing a preferred embodiment of this invention. 7

DETAILED DESCRIPTION By way of further background to the detailed description of the preferred. apparatus of this invention, there will first he described certain general matters pertinent to photometric measurements and computations. In this description, B means object brightness, S means film sensitivity, A means diaphragm value, and'T means exposure time.

To each of the above factors there is assigned in the APEX system a corresponding APEX-represented value, these being By, S A and T I In the APEX system there is established the following addition-system relation.

TV I AV By I (I) The photometric computation according to formula l) is made with logarithmic transformation of the exposure-value determining factors B, S, A, and T. l

A voltage V is associated with the APEX- represented value By (and thus also to object brightness B). In formula (2) given below, the voltage V is given in terms of the APEX-represented value By and a voltage v, which is the value of the voltage corresponding to unity variation of the value B.-.

Further, in connection with diaphragm value A and the film sensitivity S, there are obtained in the same manner as in the relation (2) the voltage: V A -v and V,,= S 'v Then, according to the relation (1) and by means of an electric computation circuit, there is obtained a voltage:

v' u r ry n This voltage T sv is inverse-logarithmically transformed, that is, it is logarithmically expanded into a current value which is inversely proportional to. the exposure time Tthai "corresponds; to the value T Timing of this exposure obtained by charging a capacitor with this current up to a certain value. I? I With referenceto FIGURE 1, there will ndw be described the preferred embodiment of this invention.

Operating power for the apparatus is provided by an electrical source E such as a self-contained battery within a camera (not shown). A photo diode PD is connected between the positive terminal of the battery and the collector of a transistor Q The photo diode thus is operated in a reverse bias condition, as is conventional.

As is well known, when a photo diode PD is illuminated by the light input froman object to be photographed, the photo diode PD functions as a constantcurrent source. The current flowing through it (i,,) has a value which is determined by the amount of illumination impinging on the light receiving-surface of the photo diode. By constant-current source, it is meant that the current flowing through the diode is substantially or completely unaffected by the voltage across it.

The transistor Q is arranged in a self-biasing circuit. To this end, a buffer circuit K is connected between the collector and .baseielect-r od es of the transistor Q Preferably, 'the buffer circuit'K includes a source follower (not sho'wn)."'"Thesou-rce followerarrangement ispreferr'edbecau'se 'it fe atures theoperjating characteristics I of'high "input impedance "and lowj-output impedance available through the use -of-a field effect.stransis tor -'--B"y viitue omie foregoing self biasin g arrangement,

the transistor 0,. Operates with awcollec-tor' current i}, that substantially or'identic all equal to the current As is' well known, there a logarithmic'reIationShip between collector current' and base-emitter-junction voltage. Thus, for'r'elatively large changes in' collector current, there can be relatively small changes in base emitter junction voltage. Accordingly, the base-emitter voltage V H of the transistor Q" has a value that is proportional to the logarithm value of the-collector cur- H antageously, the cu'r' rent ib (=Ii is proportional to the illumination of th'e light receiving surface of the pho to ai q Pi), and, further, the illumination er the receiving surface: proportional to the "object brightness B. With logarithmic compression being madewith respect to base 2 ,the voltage V has a value that is proportionalto lo'g B. This can be made pr o por tional totheAPEX-represented value a 'ccording' 't'o the APEX system (if formula (1 A bias voltage source V is provided whose voltage value is proportional to the addition value S Ay ing the. voltage v, andgtlie value B U'Thisbiasfi/ oltage source 7 V .js connectedin series with the emitter; elec- :35

tro de of the transistorQ Therefore thelb'ase voltage of the transistor Q, is of a value which is proportional to By S y A that is T -v which in turn is proportional to T, (the APEX-represented value of exposure time T). Thus, the output of the buffer circuit K is a voltage whose value is proportional to Ty.

;:A:cirefuit=seetion :is providedin which the collector circuit ofatransistor Qathere is connected .a capacitor C -and: a normally -closedtype switch SW which are connected inparallelwith each-othenTo the emitterelectrode .ofthe transistor 0,; there is connected a bias tora current i' .-T-he;'value of the bias voltage source V :is sbestablished that-the collector current-i has a value related to -theexposure time T. -Advantageously,.;the

circuit design is suchthat thecollector. cu-rrent' i is of value:wh ich"'is inversely proportional .to the exposure tim'eT. in this case, itis necessary-that the-baseemitter diode characteristics of the transistor Q" and Q be equal to each other... :2 w

The normally closed type switch""SW v is caused ,by I conventional cameratappa'ratustnotshown) .to.,switch 1 hql i ug element L, i li h d; A5 f e2 yeom h from -on to off con i in rivingnn c n I ,Qtr'ahSist r Q isj conductive, and therefore the transiswith the shutteropen'ing means; Upon opening of the switch SW' thecurrent l'fflllSCS,Il'lCiCflPflCltQFC to be charged. 'After" the capaciton has 'beenchargedup to a predetermined value, a switching circuit 5C so acts that, through the action of a magnetMG the action of the shutter closing 'meansis"controlled,- thusautomatically providing the desired exposur'e time.

, -z-.4':- Nowardesejription will beg'f err of the logarithmic expansion circuit section' f 1 'i' 'l'ransistors'A Q 1, Q,;,' whose'base electrodes are cehriecftedtogetherj are eaclf'an'example-of a voltagecontrolled cfir reht sourc Each providesforlogarithexpan'sionoperation1n connection with the quantizing "'ope rationijThese I tTaIJSlStQIZS are preferably matched'to'havesubstantially or identically equal baseernitteij voltage vs. collector current characteristics. The emitter electrodes of the transistors Q1, Q Qn are co rimected to thebias voltage source Y .Tothe collctor' circuits of the transistors 0,, Q Q there are connected resistors R R R, respectively so that the collector current i of the transistors flows through them. To the's'eresistors R R R there are connected transistors Q 4, Q Q for switchingcircuit action in such. a manner that the voltageidro ps owjng tojsaid resistors andthe collector ,currenti are applied as inputs'to the. base-emittersof the. transistors respectively. To the collector circuits of the, transistors Q1. O .Q there are connectedresistors r, r r:,, respectively. ;ln order to cause to operate luminou'sifelementsL L L such as lamps or light emission-diodes, there;,are provided transistors Q Q2 2a n 2- r Now; when to the base electrodes of the transistors Q1; .Q there are applied, as inputs, the output voltager'ljyvglwhich is proportional tQTy) of the buffer circuit ;K -,.;t'he'n-the collector, current i of thetransistors Q510 Oh (this; current .being of one and equal value for-teachH-transistor) is obtained with a .value which 'is,,proportional to the-inverse logarithm of said voltageT -v that is, a yalue which is inversely proportional tome-exposure time, in the same manner/as that of. =thecollector current i of the transistor Q,,;

The values of the resistors R R R,, are suitably established-in accordance with the exposure time to be quantizedlyrepresented. Voltage drops 2 e e are produced through said collector current i and the said resistorsR R -R,,,-respectively. The switching circuit action transistors Q,: ,,Q Qn-l each have an offset voltage e That is, the base-emitter voltage relative to this offset-voltage determines whether the collector current oi -transistor maybe regarded; as approximatelyin-off state. Through comparison of the voltage drops e e a e with the offset voltage e control of; the action of the luminous element; is made in accordance with the exposure time to be quantizedly represented. Y

Now, description ,will be imade herebelow, with the assumption that the. .luminouselements- L L L .repi'esentexposure times-ll 1000, 1/500, 1/.l seconds, respectively, and there are established the followingfrelations:

' I As'for e, e the transistor Q is non-conductive,

: andtherefore the transistor Q is conductive, so that which is automatically controlled by the electrically controlled shutter circuit. are so arranged that the luminous element is lighted corresponding to' the determined value, or to a value which is smaller than it, of the exposure time. Accordingly, in the foregoing example. the exposure time is 1/1000 second or less, and less than 1/500 second. If necessary, inversion of lighting mode of said luminous elements can be readily made by addition of a phase inversion circuit. Particularly, the limit indication of the least exposure time which is controllable by the shutter system (generally 1/1000-1/2000 second) can be readily made by lighting the corresponding luminous element.

The foregoing is a description of quantized representation of exposure time with reference to one example as shown in FIG. 1. It is clear that also the value B or the value E can be quantizedly represented in the same manner by establishing suitable value of the bias voltage sources V, and V-;.

From the foregoing, it should be understood that an important concept underlying the invention is as follows. In operation, a quantized indication of a variable parameter (preferably exposure time) that varies in relation to a variable signal (such as the current i,,). A controllable voltage source provides a voltage (V that varies in logarithmic relationship with respect to variations in the signal. Through the operation of each of a plurality of voltage-controlled current sources, the variations in this first voltage are transformed into nonlinearity varying current signals. Accordingly, relatively small changes in the first signal result in relatively large changes in the current out of-the current sources. ln effect, the first voltage is not linearly enlarged. The enlarged current signals are each compared with a plurality of threshold values. Each different threshold value is preferably determined by the combined effect of fixed offset voltage and a resistor having a selected value. The apparatus has the great advantages of relatively simple circuit structure and fully satisfactory performance. The use of a bipolar type transistor in each of the voltage-controlled current sources is especially advantageous.

What is claimed is:

1. Apparatus for providing a quantized indication of a parameter that varies in relation to a variable input signal which comprises:

a logarithmic compression circuit including a controllable voltage source providing a first voltage and control means responsive to the signal for controlling the controllable voltage source so that the first voltage varies in logarithmic relationship with respect to variations in the signal;

a plurality of logarithmic expansion circuits each including a voltage-controlled current source controlled by the first voltage and each having an inverse-logarithmic voltage-in to current-out transfer characteristic", and

indicating means including a plurality of thresholddetecting switching elements respectively corre- 6 sponding to the plurality of expansion circuits, each switching elementhaving a different threshold and being operative to switch between opposite 7 switching conditions in accordance with whether the current out of its corresponding expansion circuit is on one side or the other of itsthreshold.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the logarithmic compression circuit includes a photosensitive element and the control means includes means for controlling the controllable voltage source so that the first voltage has a value proportional to a selected one of the APEX-represented photographic parameters.

3. Apparatus according to claim 2 wherein each voltage-controlled source comprises a bipolar transistor having its base-emitter junction connected to receive the first voltage.

4. Apparatus according to claim 3 wherein the threshold detecting switching elements each include a transistor having a resistor connected in parallel with its base-emitter junction, the current from the corresponding current source being provided to develop a voltage across the resistor.

5. A quantized indication arrangement for a camera, which comprises:

a voltage source providing a voltage whose value is determined in proportion to APEX-represented values of photographic parameters,

a controllable current source having said voltage value as its input and having a non-linear inputvoltage to output-current transfer characteristic; and

comparing means for controlling the quantized indication, the comparing means including switching means operative to switch in accordance with the value of the output current relative to a predetermined threshold value.

6. An arrangement according to claim 5 wherein the controllable current source comprises a bipolar type transistor.

7. An arrangement according to claim 6, wherein said voltage value is applied to the base-emitter junction of the transistor, the transistorhaving a logarithmically expanded current relative to said voltage value.

8. An arrangement according to claim 5 wherein the' comparing means includes a resistor across which there is developed a voltage proportional to the output current, and the switching means comprises a transistor having its base-emitter junction connected in parallel with the resistor.

9. An arrangement according to claim 8 wherein the resistor has a resistance value established in proportion to exposure time.

10. An arrangement according to claim 5 further comprising a plurality of additional ones of said controllable current source, each comprising a transistor having its base-emitter junction connected to receive the voltage value.

UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE CERTIFICATE CORRECTION I PATENT NO. 3, 5 6 I DATED 1 July 22 1975 INVENTORG) Z Chiharu Mori i It is certified that error appears in the ab0ve-identified patent andthat said Letters Patent are herebyporrected as shown below:

Location in Patent Column 1 after "u.s. Pat; No. 3,828,253" add Line 6 1 Column 1 after "U.S; Pat. No. 3,807,879" add Line 13 a Column 3 there should be a hyphen between "base" and Line 55 "emitter"; I I

Column 4 after "Transistors" Change "A to read Q Line 3 Column 6 after "age-controlled" insert current Line 14 A v Signed and Sealed thls fourteenth Day of October 1975 [SEAL] v 1 Arrest:

RUTH MASON Q QMARSHALLDANN Arresting Officer (uminissiuner of Parents and Trrldemarks UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION PATENT NO. I 3 95 7 DATED 1 July 22, 1975 NVVENTOMS I Chiharu Mori It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

Location in Patent Column 1 after "U.S. Pat No. 3,828,253" add Line 6 Column 1 after "U.S. Pat. No. 3,807,879" add Line 13 Column 3 there should be a hyphen between "base" and Line 55 "emitter";

Column 4 after "Transistors" change "A to read Q Line 3 Column 6 after "agecontrolled" insert current Line 14 Signed and S d fourteenth Day Of October 1975 O [SEAL] Attesr:

UTH C. MASON C. MARSHALL DANN I E Officer- Commissioner of'larents and Trrldem 

1. Apparatus for providing a quantized indication of a parameter that varies in relation to a variable input signal which comprises: a logarithmic compression circuit including a controllable voltage source providing a first voltage and control means responsive to the signal for controlling the controllable voltage source so that the first voltage varies in logarithmic relationship with respect to variations in the signal; a plurality of logarithmic expansion circuits each including a voltage-controlled current source controlled by the first voltage and each having an inverse-logarithmic voltage-in to current-out transfer characteristic; and indicating means including a plurality of threshold-detecting switching elements respectively corresponding to the plurality of expansion circuits, each switching element having a different threshold and being operative to switch between opposite switching conditions in accordance with whether the current out of its corresponding expansion circuit is on one side or the other of its threshold.
 2. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the logarithmic compression circuit includes a photosensitive element and the control means includes means for controlling the controllable voltage source so that the first voltage has a value proportional to a selected one of the APEX-represented photographic parameters.
 3. Apparatus according to claim 2 wherein each voltage-controlled source comprises a bipolar transistor having its base-emitter junction connected to receive the first voltage.
 4. Apparatus according to claim 3 wherein the threshold detecting switching elements Each include a transistor having a resistor connected in parallel with its base-emitter junction, the current from the corresponding current source being provided to develop a voltage across the resistor.
 5. A quantized indication arrangement for a camera, which comprises: a voltage source providing a voltage whose value is determined in proportion to APEX-represented values of photographic parameters, a controllable current source having said voltage value as its input and having a non-linear input-voltage to output-current transfer characteristic; and comparing means for controlling the quantized indication, the comparing means including switching means operative to switch in accordance with the value of the output current relative to a predetermined threshold value.
 6. An arrangement according to claim 5 wherein the controllable current source comprises a bipolar type transistor.
 7. An arrangement according to claim 6, wherein said voltage value is applied to the base-emitter junction of the transistor, the transistor having a logarithmically expanded current relative to said voltage value.
 8. An arrangement according to claim 5 wherein the comparing means includes a resistor across which there is developed a voltage proportional to the output current, and the switching means comprises a transistor having its base-emitter junction connected in parallel with the resistor.
 9. An arrangement according to claim 8 wherein the resistor has a resistance value established in proportion to exposure time.
 10. An arrangement according to claim 5 further comprising a plurality of additional ones of said controllable current source, each comprising a transistor having its base-emitter junction connected to receive the voltage value. 